It was you
by Winnifred Artemis
Summary: Each year, on the day after his birthday, Shikamaru wakes up with a strange feeling. What can it be? And will he be able to figure it out before it's too late? [Horrible summary - I'll try to make a better one later]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:  
**A new story! This is kinda like my GaaSaku: "In between the lines" - in 3 parts I mean. I started writing on this one many years ago and thought I would be able to finish it to Shikamaru's birthday. Well, I couldn't and then I just put it aside for awhile. During Camp NaNoWriMo I finally got to finish it.

I hope you enjoy it, and I do love getting feedback - it helps me grow, so please take time to sit down and write down your thoughts.

**Do like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:**  
Again, please like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:  
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**Disclaimer:  
**«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»  
Thanks a lot to Lightning Bee for betaing on this story.

* * *

**It was you - Chapter 1**

* * *

Shikamaru was looking out of the window. 'How troublesome…' It was only six in the morning, a time when the 15 year old genius would usually be in deep sleep – and not likely to get out of bed for many hours to come. However, this day, this EXACT date every year he kept waking up early. '23rd of September'. It was like the gods were playing a prank on him. Never letting him fully enjoy the night after his birthday, always waking him up early in the morning, not managing to go back to sleep…

"Geez, you really have a grudge against me, don't you?" he asked, looking up toward the early morning sun. Well, whatever, they wouldn't answer him – especially if they indeed DID hold a grudge.

Since he knew he wouldn't get any more sleep, Shikamaru got out of bed. After visiting the bathroom and taking a surprisingly quick shower, he got changed. With nothing else to do, he once again placed himself by the window.

As he let his observant, yet distant, eyes gaze up at the skies, Shikamaru got a feeling of starting to remember something. There was something, something from a time long ago. Something about a-

*bam!*

A loud sound made Shikamaru stop his train of thoughts and he looked down to investigate the source of the noise. Just outside, of the front door of his house, he could spot a practically dressed woman with a shopping bag hanging from one of her arms. Shikamaru let out a sigh. Seeing his mother leave was a clear indicator of how early it was in the morning. Each morning Yoshino Nara went out on her daily little shopping trip that took forever because the woman refused to eat groceries that were prepared the day before. It was a little unpractical, but Shikamaru had to admit to himself that he enjoyed the always crunchy bread at the breakfast table.

As his mother walked around the corner and out of sight, the young ninja laid back down on the bed, arms on the back, supporting his head. 'Geez...' He had nothing, absolutely nothing to do. Normally this something very welcomed in the young Nara's life, but that was when he was _free_ to do nothing. This was different. He almost wished he had some chores... 'Aaaah!' The boy smacked his head. What was wrong with him today? He'd actually wished he had to do chores! Something was definitely not right. Letting his eyes scan his bedroom he noticed an old looking book peeping out from underneath his dresser. He groaned and managed to push himself out of bed to get it. The book was indeed old and as he picked it up he was greeted with a cloud of dust blowing up in his face. He coughed on his way back to the bed and sat down to look at what he'd found. The book was red with a couple of flowers on the inner side of the book cover. It seemed a little old and a thin layer of dust covered most of the title, so he used the corner of his blanket to brush atop of it to clean it.

'Hanabi'

He studied the title and tried to recall the story it contained. 'Fireworks, huh?' After a moment he gave up and opened the book for more clues, and landed on a page with a hand written message:

'Happy birthday, Shikamaru.  
I hope you'll like this book, it's one of my favorites!  
Can't wait to see you tomorrow at my place.  
– Ino.'

The young Nara raised an eyebrow at the inscription. It had been a birthday present form Ino? He closed the book to once again have a look at the cover. Well, a flower was the symbol of the Yamanaka-clan, so it was a good chance his female teammate would have picked it out as to tease him.

Falling back down onto his bed, he let it fall to the floor with a hollow bump. Geez, why wasn't there anything to do? He could go out to do some training but if he did then he'd probably miss breakfast... he let out a sigh and bend his head backwards so that he could look up at the skies through the window to do some cloud watching. Well, that was what he'd intended to do. However there seemed to be no clouds available. 'I was right; Someone truly hates me today...' With an irritated growl he sat up again and looked up and down the street. There weren't many people outside, and those who were had all a focused look on their faces that suggested that they were outside in order to do an errand. Shikamaru was about to fall back down on the bed when he suddenly caught the glimpse of someone familiar. 'What's Chouji doing up this early?' His best friend might not be as fond of his bed as the Naraboy but he _did_ appreciate lazing around during his morning hours.

"Ey, Chouji!" Shikamaru called out. The boy came to a halt and looked around and over his shoulder to find the source of the voice. As he did Shikamaru noticed what his teammate was carrying. 'Flowers? Why the hell would he carry around flowers?' Shikamaru shook his head; he'd probably get an explanation when he managed to contact the boy. "Chouji, up here!" He tried again, but it didn't seem like Chouji heard him clearly this time either because he looked behind him before shrugging on his shoulder and continued walking down the street. Inside, the spiky haired boy let out a frustrated grunt and fell face down on his feet. 'Just typical...'

He lay still for a while but even relaxing became troublesome after some time. Bored, he once again sat up and let his hand fumble in a bag beside the bed until picked out a small brain puzzle that was made in tree, and started fumbling with it without paying any attention to it. It had been one of the presents he'd gotten yesterday. The package had said it was 'a very difficult one' but Shikamaru had spent three minutes figuring it out and another two to solve it. He let out a little snort of satisfaction as he remembered Ino's face as her present had occupied him for such a short amount of time. With a last little thrust of his hand the last piece found it'd place and he looked down on the construct, admiring it. Lazily he threw the ball-formed puzzle in the air and caught it as it came back down. He repeated the motion but, as he reached for it, a loud bark broke off is concentration and he missed the ball by and inch, seeing it pass by his hand before continuing its fall down on the street. Shikamaru let out a curse. 'Was everything gonna go wrong today?'

Shikamaru got on his feet and slowly plodded himself down the stairs, went through the kitchen, and out on the street. The puzzle had now moved a couple of meters down the street and, as the Nara went over to it, a gust of wind swept by and moved the puzzle yet another meter. Irritated the boy followed, hurrying to pick it up before the wind could get another chance.

"Oh, hi Shikamaru. Not every day you're up at this hour." A voice commented as a shadow fell over him.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:  
**Second part. I was kinda unsure how to do this part. It's a lot of clues there, but I didn't want them to be to obvious. Oh, and, I really look forward to publish the last part - I'm seriously fangirling it even though I made it myself XD

I hope you enjoy it, and I do love getting feedback - it helps me grow, so please take time to sit down and write down your thoughts.

**Do like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:**  
Again, please like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:  
FaceBook: WinnifredArtemisDub  
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**Disclaimer:  
**«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»  
Thanks a lot to Lightning Bee for betaing on this story.

* * *

**It was you - Chapter 2**

* * *

Shikamaru turned and faced his best friend with a lazy smile.

"Not every day you see Chouji Akimichi with flowers either…" Both boys looked at each other and burst out into laughter. As they did it made Shikamaru realize how good it was seeing Chouji again. The two best friends were almost always seen together – whether it was on the training grounds, on missions; or just wasting time munching chips while watching the endless marathon of the clouds.

"Yeah, wait," Chouji stopped laughing and looked questionably at his friend. "How did you know that?"

"What? About the flowers?" The genius bent back and leaned his back to the wall, resting as he continued the conversation. "I just happened to look out the window when you passed by earlier." He let out a yawn. "So anyway, what up with that?"

"I delivered them to Ino," the warmhearted boy responded. He said it as if it was the one single obvious truth of the day. Shikamaru nodded in understaning. Of course it had been Ino – it was a well known fact that the Yamanaka family were in the flower trade. He let out a sigh remembering the time Ino had insisted, no, demanded that he should get some weird purple flower for her so that she could use it in her handmade flower statue to her aunt. In the end, after hours of nagging, he'd eventually given up and she'd finally left him alone. He'd of course come to regret it. The task had been one of the most troublesome he'd ever had – and for no gain but her gratitude – which in Ino's world meant giving him one day without hanging over his shoulder. Shikamaru smiled: the Yamanaka girl might be quite a handful but he would never, even if he'd had a possibility, have any other girl on his team.

"Are you going tonight?" Chouji asked suddenly.

"Huh? Sorry, what?"

"The party on the beach? The one Ino and Sakura are arranging. Are you planning on going?"

Shikamaru wrinkled his nose. The combination of those two meant trouble in one way or another and you needn't be a genius to see that the result would either be a huge mess or a success. Either way it was a good idea to stay away. He knew that if he went there and it was a fiasco the girls would fight among themselves before spotting him and dragging him into it. The alternative could be far better; he could end up on the background alone and the only thing he would suffer from would be the headache from the boom-boom-booming of the music. It could however turn into a hell if Ino decided to drag him out on the dance floor – or worse: if she'd invited that fearsome woman from the Sand... His gut jumped uncomfortably imagining the horrors she could inflict on him. No, it was better with Ino – she might be troublesome but that was far better than the horrifying alternative.

"It would be troublesome... Though I guess Ino's speech if I don't show up would be even more troublesome... What a drag..." Shikamaru complained and his friend nodded in agreement.

"Wouldn't like to be you when she found out..." Both of the boys let out a sigh. There were always talks about how the male number of ninjas overpowered and left the females behind along with their desires and wishes. Somewhat that seemed to be a lie. A woman could be scarier than any man could be and both Shikamaru and Chouji knew that even if it had been ten of them, they'd still come short when confronting Ino Yamanaka.

"Good morning, Chouji." The boys turned to see woman walking towards them. As she reached them she put down her baggage and opened her mouth when she noticed her son. "Oh, and Shikamaru too? You're up? Carry these inside for me, will you?" She handled Shikamaru two chock full shopping nets. The boy let out a sigh but accepted the groceries. His mom was another fearful woman in his life...

He went inside and started unpacking the different items, making sure everything got to its rightful place. He sure wasn't going to mess up the woman's system in her own sanctuary – that was close to suicidal.

Just as he'd finished putting away the last of the groceries – a box of cereal, his mother came inside.

"Ah, thanks for the help, Shikamaru." Her eyes looked around the room but she didn't seem to find any obvious mistakes and she nodded in approval. Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief, he'd made it. He gave his mother a smile and lifted his foot, prepared to go up to his room.

"Shikamaru..." He froze, he knew that tone. Whenever his mother used it he always knew he should have gotten as far away as possible while he still could. Yet, he wasn't so he turned back to face her.

"Yeah, what is it, mom?" He held his breath as he waited but his mother said no more. A hope filled Shikamaru. If she didn't tell him to do anything... He quietly put his still lifted foot down on the floor and carefully tip toed towards the stairs.

"Go wake up your father!" Yoshino's voice boomed and her son had to steady himself, using the wall as support so he didn't fall.

"Dammit, almost..." He muttered under his breath. It had been so close, yet, he should have known...

"What?" The woman sent him a poisonous look and Shikamaru hurried up the stairs out of her reach.

"Nothing, mom! I'm on it!"

Upstairs he slowed down and relaxed. 'Geez. What's wrong with women?' He walked to his parents bedroom and knocked two times. The boy stood still waiting, but there was no response. "Dad?" he tried, knocking once more. From the inside he could hear a groan. His father was clearly still asleep. 'Oh man, this is just too troublesome...' Once again he knocked but at the same time he slightly opened the door and looked inside.

"Dad, you have to get up," He waited before adding: "Mom's orders". He could have sworn the mountain in the bed twitched. Shikaku was a tough man and all, but when it came to confronting his wife... The young ninja let out a sigh. 'Why had he ended up marrying such a troublesome woman?' Closing the door behind him he walked over to his own room.

A couple of minutes later Yoshino Nara called up from downstairs, announcing that the breakfast was on the table. Both males of the household hurried to the table and were welcomed by a meal not even the Nara-family could find troublesome in any way.

As they finished the meal, the woman sent her son a glance.

"Shikamaru?" The boy swallowed down the last piece of fresh bread with marmalade.

"Hmm?"

"I have a task for you." She got up on her feet and walked over to bench cabinet and got out an empty basket. Shikamaru just watched as his mother walked around the kitchen, filling it with different kinds of fruits, pastry and home made marmalade. "Here," she said, handing Shikamaru the now full basket. "Go over to Ino's place and give her this. I think she'll appreciate it." Yoshino nodded to herself, clearly pleased with her own job.

* * *

Outside the Yamanaka flower shop, Shikamaru stopped and looked at the flowers on the outside. There were so many of them, and even though Ino had tried to imprint the names of them into his head, he could barely make out a few of them.

"Hi, Shikamaru!" A girl's voice called out and Shikamaru turned to see two girls walking towards him. The one calling out had pink hair and Shikamaru couldn't help but notice she was wearing a white top with laces and a short and frilly, blue skirt instead of her usual maroon attire.

"Sakura," the boy nodded. You having the day off?"

"Of course she does!" The other girl cut in. "That's what best friends do. Besides," she flipped her long, blond pony tai.l "She's helping me prepare for the party."

"Ehm... Okay?" Shikamaru replied uncertainly. He wasn't sure what the girls meant, but after years of experience he'd learned just to accept whatever they said – or at least pretend that he did. "Oh, Ino. Mom told me to give you this." he lazily lifted the basket out towards her.

"Oh, thanks! Tell Auntie thanks for me, okay?" She looked through the basket. "Nice! Look at this, Sakura. Don't you think this would be perfect for the table?" The blond held up a pineapple, showing it to her friend.

"Yes! That would look so nice!" the pink haired agreed. "Don't you think so too?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru looked at the girls in confusion. "Oh, ehm yeah, sure..." The blond's head snapped towards and two ice blue eyes pierced him.

"You are coming tonight, right?" Her voice was almost a hiss, making him sweat nervously – he knew that stare all to well.

"Ye-yeah, of course." He stuttered. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." For a long second Ino kept him under her gaze but then, a split second later she broke out in a big smile and took a quick step forward giving him a quick hug before she hurried inside with the basket.

"Ehm..." Shikamaru stood still and watched his teammate as she left. Geez, she never stopped surprising him. One minute he was waiting to get torn apart by the boar and then, just a moment later, he was getting flowers drizzled all over him. Sure, those were definitely better that the opposite ones...

"She's a little... stressed." Shikamaru jumped, he hadn't noticed that Sakura had stayed beside him outside. "It's the party. She just wants it to be perfect. You know her."

'Oh he did, he did indeed...' The boy nodded and turned around to leave. A hand on his shoulder prevented him from going and he turned his head questioningly.

"You are coming to the party?" Her expression was serious, and what Shikamaru saw in her eyes made him swallow down the joke he'd been prepared in response and answer her with a simple 'yes' instead. "Good," her mood lightened and she gave the genius a bright smile. "I better go help Ino with the last of the preparations. See you later then." She waved goodbye and hurried inside. Shikamaru let out a sigh and started walking in direction of his home.

* * *

"Oh, and Shikamaru? I presume you're not having dinner seeing as you're going out tonight," His mother looked at him from around the kitchen sink as he opened the door. "That is, you _are_ going, right?"

"Of course he is, lover. Isn't that right, son?" Shikaku sent his heir a look Shikamaru knew as the 'just please her'-look; and the boy murmured an affirming reply as he walked up to his room.

Geez, what was it with this party? Everybody seemed so set on him being there that it wouldn't surprise him if he was the one having to pay for it- wait! That couldn't be it could it? The fact that even Chouji had his heart set on getting him there told him that there would certainly be food there – probably even beef judging by his efforts. Shikamaru let out a sigh. There was a good chance that he'd get 'looted' if he went to the beach. 'Still,' he thought to himself. 'only a living man can earn money back, and I certainly won't be one if I don't show up...'

* * *

**A/N:  
**Please leave a review with your thoughts, okay?  
it will help me write better in the future^^

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:  
**IT'S THE END! OMG! Well, as I wrote in the previous AN: I really love the way this chapter turned out. I mean, I'm practically fangirling myself. So yeah. I started writing it normally - with a clear idea where I was going and such, but then I suddenly started thinking a lot - and that's the background for that part. I also really liked the end. OH! And when you get to that very last sentence - do you get it? Do tell me, okay? I tried something and I'm wondering if it was successful or not.

I hope you enjoy it, and I do love getting feedback - it helps me grow, so please take time to sit down and write down your thoughts.

**Do like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:**  
Again, please like /follow me if you enjoy my stuff:  
FaceBook: WinnifredArtemisDub  
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Fanfiction: WinnifredArtemis  
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**Disclaimer:  
**«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»  
Thanks a lot to Lightning Bee for betaing on this story.

* * *

**It was you - Chapter 3**

* * *

4 hours later, the Nara-boy woke up from his afternoon nap. He got up, stretched a little and cast a glance at his alarm clock. There was still enough time to get ready for the party. Before jumping into the shower he laid out some clothes on his bed. He wouldn't go all fancy – that would be too troublesome. A clean gray t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans would have to do.

Shikamaru was dressed and on his way out when he suddenly felt his foot hit an object. Kneeling down he learned that it was the book he'd discovered earlier that morning. He picked it up and put it on the shelf – how had it gotten on the floor in the first place? Thoughtfully he left home and headed for the party.

There were a lot of teens gathered at the beach when Shikamaru arrived. Some of them he recognized from their time in the academy, but there were also a lot of people that he had no idea who were. 'Probably civilians' he thought to himself. He knew that Ino frequently spent time with their peers. It wasn't something most of the ninjas did. There was a big difference in the type of lives they lived and it was often something that made it harder to find common ground in those friendships. It didn't shock Shikamaru. By the time he and the other academy students turned thirteen they had learned a number of ways to successfully kill another human being, and many of them had already been in a situation where it had been necessary to practice those skills. No wonder they couldn't just sit down and talk about strict school teachers or argue about sports teams — something many of his sex did at that age; as if their lives depended on it. Of course it didn't. Whether you were a fan of the red shirts or the blue shirts, you could still as easily die when the enemy attacked.

In one way the relationship between their two kinds was the same as one between a battered soldier and a little child, possible on the surface, but very unlikely to be a strong one. That was, until they grew older and got the chance to see within their own life what the world was really like, got to understand what the ninjas were handling on a daily business from they were young. That was when they stood on common ground. It was in that way many of the ninjas found their spouse. Someone that could understand what their partner was going through, while they still managed to keep their mind off it so that the life of their family would be a stable one.

Shikamaru thought of his parents. They had known each other from when they were young, but it was only when they met again as adults that they had gotten along. His father had once told him that, as the old Ino-Chika-Cho-formation had passed the chounin exam, they'd went out to celebrate and had ended up at a party with a lot of teens, some of them civilians. They had talked and laughed with the other participants and ended up playing a game of 'truth or dare'. It was then he'd once again met Yoshino. They had ended up together but it was not until later, when Shikaku had turned 21 and Yoshino 19 at at birthday party of a common friend, that they had started taken interest in each other.

Despite all this, Ino Yamanaka had for some reason managed to get herself a handful of good friends among the civilians, and even more of them that she could get along with pretty well. It didn't really surprise Shikamaru that 2/3 of these friends were guys. Hell, even he himself could feel his heart speed up or skip a beat when he saw her. She was an attractive girl. There was no use denying it.

Shikamaru passed by two girls holding a balloon each. Geez, Ino was really going for it this time. He continued down towards the beach house cafeteria and as he did he looked among the guests. A banner caught his attention. 'Happy Birthday, Ino'. Shikamaru's eyes widened as he finally understood what he'd missed.

"... Shit..."

"There you are! I was starting to think that you were never gonna show up!"

Shikamaru froze in place. The gods really had to hate him. Seriously! For a second he concidered if he should pretend like he hadn't heard Ino calling out for him but he figured out that the fact that he'd stopped made it kinda obvious that he had. He turned and put on his best smile.

"Hi, Ino!" He looked at the girl. He'd called her attractive earlier but looking at her now, the word didn't really justify her appearance. Ino had her hair up in the usual pony tail, but the tips seemed rounder and he wondered if she'd curled it a bit. Her dress was fantastic. It wasn't so good all by itself, but put onto Ino's curves... Shikamaru had to swallow. Ino looked really, REALLY good.

"Nice, huh?" The blond girl commented, noticing him looking. Shikamaru hurried to look away, desperately hoping that he hadn't drooled.

"Well, yeah... It's good. Especially on you." He felt his cheeks burn and hurried to look away.

"Awe! That's so cute of you" Ino gave him a hug. Shikamaru could feel his face heat up even more.

"Ino!" A male voice called from the beach house and they turned to see a boy about their age waving at them. Seeing him, Ino waved back.

"Ren! I'm coming." She faced Shikamaru. "I have to go. You just hand around and have some fun, okay?" Without waiting for a relay she quickly walked off and went over to talk to the other boy. Shikamaru looked after her as she left. 'Damn...' That dress really... He coughed, stopping his mind from continuing down a train of thought that could turn out to be quite dangerous. Instead he looked out over the ocean. It was passed the normal bathing season so there were few on the lower beach. That facet inspired Shikamaru and he started walking. As he came to the sea line he could see a couple of rocks over at one side. he hadn't seen them before and decided that he could wait there. As he sat down he noticed that the place was in shelter the wind and also, if he sat still, it was probably out of sight from the main area of the party. A gasp of relief left his lips as he laid down on his back and looked up at the skies. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad after all? He lay still for a while, admiring the skies that danced for him on the sky. One minute he was looking at a three, the next a rabbit. He smiled to himself. Nothing to beat watching clouds.

"Aha!"

Shikamaru let out a little shriek as he jumped. His reaction brought forth a chuckling laugh.

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Geez, woman..." He got back down and let his eyes once more look at the sky

"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" she nudged him, breaking his concentration. For a second he felt tempted to fight it, but his more senssible side stopped him. It wouldn't be the best idea to make Ino mad on her birthday – especially considering the fact that he'd forgotten all about it.

"Fine, you scared me. I'm a big scaredy cat." He admitted. Ino pouted her lips in an unsatisfied motion and he let out a sigh. "What?"

"It's no fun when you're like that you know..." She kept looking at him like that for a moment but then shook her head and replaced the expression with a little smile. "Well, I guess that's to be expected." To Shikamaru's surprise Ino climbed over the rocks so that she could sit beside him. "You wouldn't do if you weren't you." she said thoughtfully laying back, joining him in looking up at the skies. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. What did she just say? Noticing his quizzical look, Ino let out a little laugh. "Oh, it's nothing. I just... I'm glad you're who you are. That's all." She closed her eyes and breathed out.

For a moment he just stayed there studying her. It was unlike Ino to watch clouds with him – hell, she'd ditched her own birthday party. Something was not right.

"Ino?" he tried, his voice mild. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" she looked up at him as if she didn't understand what he was talking about, but Shikamaru didn't buy it.

"I know that face, Ino. Hell, I know you!" He sat up and looked down at his friend. "Now tell me what's bothering you..." The words came out a little harsh and he quickly added: "... please?" The blond girl let out a sigh and sat up.

"It's nothing special... It's just... perfect." Shikamaru looked confused.

"What?"

"My life is supposedly perfect! All the time they tell me everybody tells me... but I don't really feel like it is. I see why they would think so, I mean, who could ask for more? I'm living in a good home with good and loving parents. Each day I'm surrounded with good friends and people I look up to. I have food and clothing, I even have secured my future by having two trades. Not to mention that I'm pretty and attractive."

"Not really modest," Shikamaru noted, quickly lifting his hand in front of his face to stop her from hitting him, and added: "I see what you mean though. All those things are something many people out there have to live without..."

They both sat still thinking for a moment.

"You know," Shikamaru said, looking out on the ocean. "My dad told me once that he'd never felt so alive and happy as when he got together with Mom... That she completed him or something..."

"Yeah, I think I've heard something similar before..." She twisted her face in a thoughtful expression. "I just can seem to recall... Ah!" Her face lit up and she turned to Shikamaru with a spark in her eyes. "Now I remember! That book I gave you. It was just like that in that book!"

"Ehm... Hanabi?" Shikamaru asked, remembering the title of the book he'd found earlier that day.

"Yes! Just like in 'Hanabi'! I knew you would like it!" Without warning she slid her hands around his neck and placed a kiss on his lips. It only lasted for a second, then she withdrew herself. Shikamaru was lost. What the hell was that all about? He knew that Ino had a tendency to act on pure impulse, but something like this... Noticing the lost expression on her friend's face, Ino let out a chuckle.

"You okay?" She leaned close to him and, as she did, his face gained a shade of pink.

"What, you're blushing? I thought you were the smart one around here" She teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

"What the hell would've prepared me for that?" He complained, desperately fighting to keep his face calm and composed.

"Emilia and Henry!" Her hands helping her state the obvious.

"Ehm... okay?"

"In the forest, remember?" It sounded like she was giving up on him, and Shikamaru threw out a guess based on the little he knew of typical romance novels.

"That time they kissed for the first time?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Her eyes regained the spark and was close to glowing in excitement for their common interest. "And then he told her-"

Shikamaru cut her off "- that he loved her and that they would always be together!"

The world suddenly turned silent.

"What? No. he told her that he'd decided to break up with her so that he could marry Louise..." Her voice was flat and a bit distant, and Shikamaru felt an unpleasant feeling creep up his back. He'd been wrong.

"Oh... Right..." He closed his eyes, waiting for her wave of anger to fall over him. She didn't slap him, something he'd expected her to do, but when she opened her mouth, her voice was steady with a hint of relief.

"God, Shikamaru, sometimes I wonder if you ever pay attention... I mean, for a second there it almost sounded like you hadn't read it." She looked up at him and pinned him with her eyes. "You DID read it, right?"

It was as if the whole world was pinning him down through those light blue eyes of hers, and Shikamaru felt sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Ino, you know-" He started, but was cut off before he was able to defend himself.

"You're such an idiot aren't you?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Great, and because I thought you'd actually read my present to you, I've ended up looking like a fool." Once again Shikamaru tried to say something, but the blonde wasn't finished. "I'm not even sure what I was thinking. I mean, it's not like you've shown me any special interest or anything. And even if you'd had, why the hell would you care for a stupid thing like-"

With a quick motion Shikamaru got the hold of her wrist and pulled her down towards him, meeting her halfway with his own lips. Ino shut up, her eyes widening as she realized that he was the one kissing her, and not the other way around.

As they finally broke free from each other Shikamaru let out a sigh.

"Ah, just great... It seems like I've inherited that stupid gene..." Ino looked up at him, wondering what was wrong.

"The gene? What gene?" Shikamaru smiled sheepishly at her:

"The one that makes you fall for troublesome women..."

"Oh you're in so much trouble," she said, smiling as she leaned closer. The young Nara smiled back at her.

"If only the gods knew..."

* * *

******A/N:  
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